”When did you come to New York?”

Will quickly did some mental math at the question to come up with the number. "Twelve years ago. 2012." He said, offering the year as well to help give context, the man hesitating almost imperceptibly before continuing. "Just a few months before the riots here. Police. Maxine Ralls." He tried to bring it up in a casual fashion, but the ease he brought up the name of the reporter probably gave him away.

"Around the same time all this started too. My powers I mean." Will added, pausing thoughtfully, giving a little shake of his head. "Well... They probably started a little earlier, but, it was more obvious once I got here." He tried to explain, half talking to himself. It was nerve-wracking talking about this openly, his gut telling him to talk less, turn his head, walk away. 

Will could too easily remember how the atmosphere of the school had changed when even the first news stories that had led to the riots had hit the mainstream channels. It wasn't so much in the open, not the things that people said and did with their whole chest. No, it was the undercurrent. The whispers in the corners. The murmurs down the hall and ugly glances from across the room. People might have been better on the whole, at least when they were in public, but people could still be monsters in the dark. 

Will had been stuck, forced to hear the scared, angry whispers of hundreds of teenagers forced together into a community as tensions ratcheted higher and higher to a breaking point. Sure, the loud voices in the light spoke about sheltering and helping one another. But the voices in the dark hissed that maybe the government had the right ideas back in 2017, that normal people deserved to feel safe too.

Will was glad that during the actual riots, he'd been able to stay at home, safe. After school had started again, things were calmer, the whispers less, but not gone. Never gone. 

Will just nodded at Lee as she gave a simple answer to his earlier comment on her situation being complicated. Just that it could be complicated. Not much to say that.

However as Lee spoke again, asking about his own energy, Will's nod of understanding was replaced by a grimace and a shrug. "Sleeping, I guess?" He sounded confused, baffled at the idea of the question at all. "Or however any part of a body gets it's energy, anyway. Mostly seems to just trickle in through the day." Will paused for a second, trying to organize his words and thoughts before continuing. "All I know is it builds and builds. But if I run enough, or whatever, it gets better for a bit."

2012. The riots.

Lee had left New York with Kevin not too long before that, but Lee remembered hearing about the riots. She remembered worrying about Kevin’s father, since he had refused to leave the city.

It had not been a good time. Even if everyone she cared about in New York had come through the riots at least mostly unscathed.

”That is some horrendous timing,” Lee said. Then the order of events Will had talked about fully clicked in and her head tilted slightly as she looked at him. ”Wait, your powers started around when you got here? You didn’t come here because you’re a mutant?”

Based on Lee’s guess at Will’s age, combined with how long ago he had come to the city, Lee had initially thought he’d ended up here like so many other young mutants did. Like she had. Because they left ‘home’ and ended up in New York for one reason or another.

But if he wasn’t completely sure when his powers emerged, like she really wasn’t, and he only knew for sure after he had gotten here…Then why had he come to New York from Toronto?

As Will explained that he got the energy that made him feel like an overcharged battery from sleeping, Lee’s frown deepened. ”I’m the last person who should be talking about how sleep gives you energy, but don’t most people get more tired and less energetic through the day, not more so?” Lee asked. At least that’s what it seemed like, that’s how Kevin and Tarin functioned. Well, other than it being near impossible to wake Kevin up because he was a teenager.

”If it ‘trickles in’ through the day and you end up with more energy, that sounds like there may be something else going on,” Lee thought out loud. ”I mean, if you wake up and feel rested, sleep is obviously a part of the equation. But if you feel like you’ve got more energy 12 hours after waking up than 2 hours after waking up, what’s giving you that energy?”

"...You didn’t come here because you’re a mutant?”

Will gave a short laugh, a single brief 'ha' of noise. "Nah. Parents' work brought us here. Happy coincidence, I guess. Aside from the timing." He explained to her, "My dad got offered some big promotion, or maybe head-hunted by a competing company. Forget which." Will further clarified. It wasn't unheard of, of course, to move countries for work, but there were usually significant circumstances in making that sort of change in life. 

Will listened, feeling a bit uncomfortable as Lee asked further questions about his 'energy' for lack of a better term, probing a bit about his powers and forcing him to think about them. It wasn't the easiest thing speaking on something you tried to hide away, even if the other person had the best intentions. Even so, as Lee went on, Will's expression changed a slight frown crossing his expression -- mild frustration at trying to make himself understood.

It made sense that there'd be some difficulties in understanding one another off the cuff. A bit like trying to explain a sense to someone missing one... or trying to describe how your legs feel to a fish. 

"No, not quite like that..." Will said, waving a hand as though to brush away the entire idea. "I'm just like any oth-..." Will caught himself, halting in the middle of his words before continuing, "most people. Wake up, get tired though the day. I don't get more awake. Muscles and body still need the same amount of rest. I think, anyway." It was pretty hard to know what a baseline was, when you really only had yourself to go off of, but he'd never been particularly athletic, though after years of running himself to sleep, he'd picked up a knack for that at least. 

"More like..." Will sighed, trying to come up with words for something that seemed so clear but that didn't have words made up for it yet. "When your body's exhausted, but your mind is going a mile a minute? Or your brain's burnt out, but you're fully rested? Only... a third thing." Will's words trailed off a bit at the end, clearly unsatisfied with his ability to put the experience into words. "So, I get tired, exhausted even, but it's not easy getting to sleep while the world's settings are turned up to 11." 

Will had come to New York more than a decade earlier with his parents. That was so much better. Especially with the time he had arrived in the city. ”Do they know, then?” Lee asked. ”Or is that why you were so cryptic about your ‘condition’ earlier?”

Will went on, trying to explain. Lee listened carefully, nodding along. Did she fully understand? No. But Lee knew better than most how hard things like that could be to try and explain.

So it wasn’t energy in the sense that he woke up and he was fully ‘charged’. He could be exhausted, yet his senses were in overdrive. And whatever it was ‘trickled in’ throughout the day.

”That’s odd,” Lee said a minute after Will had finished trying to explain. ”There’s obviously something powering your abilities. Otherwise they wouldn't get stronger sometimes, but often lessen when you run.”

Lee paused to think about that a bit more. She didn’t see how it could be physical energy if he could be exhausted and still having issues with his powers. But if running helped, at least a bit…

”I have no clue what it could be,” Lee ended up admitting. ”But if you can figure out what it is that ‘trickles in’ through the day and ramps up your senses, you’d be at least one step closer to being able to turn them down when you want to.”

Dang, but she was sharp.

”Do they know, then?

Lee's words caught him off guard, she seemed to be able to pick up on things he hadn't even been aware he'd been hinting at. Things he hadn't even been consciously thinking even. 

"I haven't told them," Will said noncommittally, giving a shrug with one shoulder as though trying to brush the question aside. 

Frankly, Will wasn't sure if they really knew or not. Suspected maybe? He remembered even before coming to New York he'd started having issues with being over-stimulated. Things were too loud, too bright. He remembered going to checkups, some kind of weekend class for stress management (that he'd hated), a brief discussion about ADD or ADHD. He recalled he'd eventually stumbled onto a diagnosis that fit. Hyperesthesia. Sure, they didn't know the cause or the cure, but putting a name to it helped. At least until he learned the rest. 

Will still clung to that medical term to brush away questions on the off chance anyone noticed him acting off, and he presumed his parents still believed that was what things were. Or at least it gave them the chance to close their eyes to anything more if they chose to. 

He listened to Lee as she talked about the seeming inconsistency of his powers and senses, feeling a combination of amused and frustrated as she went on. Amused because he'd gone through those same thoughts a thousand times, and frustrated because he'd gone through those same thoughts a thousand times.

"Yeah, well... I'll let you know when I figure it out." Will replied to Lee, an fragment of that amusement and frustration carrying through to his voice. "Due for a break after the first decade, right?" He joked, forcing down the urge to sink into frustration and bitter sarcasm, instead cracking a tired smile at Lee. 

"Though uh... There is one other thing." Will offered hesitantly, searching for his next words. How did you casually bring up your ability to mess with people's senses? There was no Mary Manners book on talking about your mutation. It felt oddly like bragging, but also like showing off an embarrassing birthmark at the same time. "It also tends to get better when I use my powers. Uh, on other people. Senses. I can mess with peoples'." Will tried to explain, stumbling over his words by the end. 

”I haven't told them,"

Lee nodded slowly. Honestly, if she had discovered her powers in a different way, she probably wouldn’t have told her parents either. Especially if she had been able to pass it off as a medical condition. They had gone to see enough doctors about it.

And though Will tried to play it off as a joke, Lee could tell that he was frustrated about not knowing what was powering his abilities. And thinking that he was due a ‘break’ after having them for a decade. Lee couldn’t stop the quiet, clipped laugh that escaped her lips at that. ”That’s about the time my life started going unbelievably wild,” Lee said in explanation. ”The political situation is a lot better now, though.

“But that’s also when I really started learning about my powers and what I could do,” Lee added more helpfully.

Will continued, admitting that there was one other thing he could do, and that his powers, his senses, were easier to deal with when he did this thing. Mess with other people’s emotions. ”Mess with them?” Lee asked after a moment. ”How?”

There were just so many different ways that Lee could think of off the top of her head that a mutant could ‘mess’ with someone’s senses. Could he enhance someone’s senses? Could he suppress their senses? Cause them to stop working all together? Make someone sense something that wasn’t there like a hallucination? Could he mess with all the senses at once, or was he limited to one at a time? Was it only the 5 senses that most people thought of, or was he able to mess with other senses as well?

”How does that work?” Lee asked curiously. ”Because if we can figure out how and where you’re able to push that energy out to mess with someone’s senses, might discover another way to get it out.”

Will had mixed feelings about a lot of what Lee said. 

That she had laughed at his, let's face it, poor attempt of a joke, at least eased some of the tension. The fact she'd added that her life had gotten 'unbelievably wild' at that point made the man chuckle softly. He'd hoped she'd meant it in a humourous way. He certainly took it that way, at least. 

And while he couldn't technically disagree with the politics of today being better... much better even, than back in 2007 or 2012, or even just a few years ago... Will was also privy to a lot of things people said under their breath, or when they thought they were out of earshot. A shame that the human, and mutant, mind worked in certain ways -- near everyone tended to have a negativity bias. The natural way people would recall a bad day more strongly than a good one, or linger on insults before compliments.

Lee continued speaking however, keeping Will from lingering too long on those thoughts. She spoke about their powers, about how around the same time her life had gotten so crazy, she'd also really started figuring out her powers. It was enough to ease his worst concerns, that other people had started just as lost and confused with their abilities as he did. 

She also asked him to clarify his own powers.

Hadn't he been clear? Will looked puzzled for a long few moment, wearing an open expression of bewilderment when she asked for clarification, especially with the look of curiosity Lee wore. It took him a frankly embarrassing amount of time before it clicked.

Right. Not everyone was privy to what he could do. Fish. Legs.

"Ah. Sorry." Will apologized. Seems at least one habit from his home country had stuck, the man apologizing at the drop of a hat. "I can turn someone's senses up, or down, mostly." He explained simply, before continuing, trying to clarify things further. "Ah, you know. Enhance or sharpen them. Dull or suppress them. Can be one, or some, or all the senses." Will paused briefly, "Well, all the 5 usual senses anyway... Guess I've never tried futzing with anything else..." Will paused, looking up and down the running path where they stood, the awkward, anxious feeling of talking so openly about his abilities making him wary of anyone eavesdropping -- though even his senses couldn't pick up more than the faint sounds of wind and distant traffic.

"Have to touch the person to be able to mess with anything though. And it takes a while. I don't have much practice at it, y'know?" Will admitted, giving Lee a smile and a weak chuckle. "It's not permanent." He clarified, "Lasts as long as I can keep it going. Doesn't take much to keep it up though."

Lee nodded as Will explained what he was able to do. And it happened to me about half of Lee's thoughts with how he was able to mess with a person's senses. Though, Lee wondered if Will was able to suppress the senses of other people, he would be able to do that to his own. Chances were, he’d tried that before, but it was always something to look into.

Before she was able to voice any of those thoughts, Lee saw that Will was looking around, up and down the path. As though he were looking for someone.

”I don’t think there’s anyone else around,” Lee informed him, her voice reassuring. ”At least not within about 50 feet or so.”

But then Will continued on, explaining that he had to touch someone in order to do anything with their senses, and that it took a while. That would make it more difficult to use up energy like that. And a lot more difficult if he ever needed to use that in an emergency.

”How long is a while?” Lee asked. ”Ten seconds? A minute? Five minutes? Though personally, I think you really should practice that if you can.”

Will had tried to turn down his own senses. Push them down, shut them off... anything and everything, but something kept him from being able to manipulate his own senses the same way he could change that of others. It was frustrating to no end -- it probably would be even more frustrating if he made more active use of his abilities. For better or worse, however, he largely just tried to not think about them. 

Will nodded at Lee's reassurance, giving her a thankful, if somewhat sheepish smile for the words and her understanding. He knew he shouldn't be worried. He'd hear someone long before someone would hear them, and Central Park was near dead this time of night, but... it was still nice having someone else keeping a lookout. 

As Lee listened off times, Will raised an eyebrow at the times she was listing off. Those were... really short. Right?

"Uh, no." Will said with a dismissive wave of head, "More like hours? So long as I can keep focus, as far as I can tell. And that part's pretty easy, honestly." Holding his focus on one person wasn't difficult either. It was sort of like holding onto something and remembering not to drop it. Enough you could almost forget you were doing it, but not impossible to mess up. "I don't think I've really run into a time limit otherwise." The tone in Will's voice shifting from casual into a shade of curious. Was it weird to be able to effect someone for that long? Was there a baseline for weird when it came to these things?

As for practicing...? Will gave Lee the sort of look one would expect a student to give a teacher who reminded them to do their homework. But after a moment he took a breath, wiped the scowl off his face and gave her a begrudging nod of agreement. "Yeah. Probably should." He grumbled, trying to direct his frustration at himself rather than the person trying to help. "Just...don't really like advertising myself, and it's not something I can work on solo." Will shrugged, before trying to shove aside the defeatist mood with a weak smile, "How would I even pitch that to people? 'Hey, lemme hold your hand a minute so you can smell things better?'" 

Hours? It took hours of him touching someone in order for his powers to affect someone's senses?

Oh! The effect could last hours. That made more sense, Lee thought. "Sorry, no, I meant how long do you have to touch someone to do something to their senses?" Lee clarified. That was the important part to Lee. As long as it didn't take too long to subdue the senses, even if the effect had only lasted a few minutes, that would still be extremely helpful for Will if a situation ever went horribly bad. It would give him a better chance to get away since his powers didn't seem inclined to help with dangerous situations.

Was it bad that figuring out self defence methods was the first place Lee's mind went? Possibly, Lee thought. But it definitely showed how her life had seemed to frequently go.

The look that Will gave her at the mention of practicing was very familiar to Lee, and she just looked steadily back. She had a teenage son who wasn't often happy about being reminded to do homework. Or to practice drills or work the heavy bag at the gym rather than what he considered to be more 'fun'.

"Believe me, Will, I understand that feeling," Lee told him gently. "Old habits die hard and it becomes second nature to conceal parts of yourself. But even if you only have one or two friends who already know, or that you'd trust to tell, it's a start. And a little bit of practice is far better than none at all."

Oh. How long did it take him to -do- something, not how long it lasted. That made sense. Will smiled apologetically at the misunderstanding. Well, both parts were probably important anyway...

"Ah, right. Sorry." He had never seemed to manage to be able to shake the linguistic tick of apologizing every other sentence. "That part's a little wobbly." Will admitted as he responded to Lee's question, a focused look on the man's face as he tried to put everything in as neat of words as he could. "If I'm turning everything up or down? 'bout a minute. Bit more, maybe." 

Will paused, combing through his sparse memories of the times he'd gotten the chance to experiment with his abilities to piece together more details. Said times largely couched in the guise of a party trick with intoxicated friends or friends, using some lame excuse like pressure points, or some other ridiculous premise to at least attempt to deflect suspicion.

Hm. Thinking on it... that was a pretty flimsy cover -- he probably hadn't been quite as sly as he'd thought when he was younger. 

Shaking off the distractions, Will continued, "Bit less if it's just one sense. Half, if I really try? But tends to be a bit less comfortable for someone if I'm enhancing. It's less..." the man gestured, his hand moving in a small circle as though trying to gather the word from the air, "Filtered? Less... controlled? End up with overstimulation problems, same as if I try and tune someone up too high."

"Other than that... Well, I can give someone a nasty shock pretty quick." Will gave Lee a little smirk at that, almost smug for a moment. "See, the trick with tweaking things up or down is it's precise... Like tryin' to thread a needle juuuust right." Yeah, there was really only one way that a needle was threaded. It wasn't the best analogy, but it, hopefully, got the point across. "But," Will continued, poor wordplay be darned, "It's real easy just to grab all the threads and yank." 

With his explanation done, he listened closely as Lee spoke again, as she gently urged him into trying to be less closed off about his situation. 

As she spoke, Will could tell she was talking sense. The things she'd said earlier, as well as now all painted an excellent argument to be less afraid. The political environment was better than it might have ever been for mutants. She wasn't arguing for him to go yelling from the rooftops, just share with one or two people. And Lee herself had almost certainly been through worse than he had, considering she must have been here in 2007. Even then, she was moving on and forward.

And yet... The familiar, almost comfortable knot of paranoia and fear in his gut was hard to just shed, even in the fact of sense and logic. The idea of opening up, letting his 'status' as he thought of it be something he could freely share was tempting and terrifying all at once. He knew it was safe now. At least as safe as anyone could be. But history repeated itself, and once he said it, once things were out there they couldn't be unsaid. Just a target on his back waiting for the next time the politics swung and--
 
Will forced himself to stop thinking about the worst case scenario yet again. He was here, talking about it, and the sky hadn't fallen. It was fine. 

Will took in a slow breath, holding it. Tried to focus on just -one- of his senses. The feel of the hard paved path through the soles of his shoes, smooth, stable, small pebbles just pressing hard enough into the rubber to be noticed. Two, three seconds and he let out the breath, calmer. Something he'd learned from those stress management classes. He still hated them.

"Yeah." Will said, sounding resigned even as he agreed with Lee, "Yeah, I know. Prob'ly just bein' too stubborn. And I'm not gonna get much better at what I can do just by wishing real hard."  

Lee nodded as Will explained about how long it took to do the messing. A minute wasn't too bad, Lee thought. Especially since it sounded like he had had very little actual practice doing it. And it apparently could be about half that time if he was only working on a single sense.

That was a decently short time that it wouldn't be awkward touching someone he knew in order to enhance their senses. Quite useless if he needed to do it against someone unwilling.

Will went on to explain that he was able to do it quickly as well, but that it was not a pleasant experience for the person he did it to. Not that that mattered, Lee thought.

"It's not a guarantee that it works for everyone," Lee started explaining. "But a lot of times, people are able to make things like how long it takes to mess with people's senses faster." Lee at least, knew that how quickly she could drain someone of their energy much quicker now than she had been able to 15 years earlier.

"So again, another reason to try and practice."

At least Will realized that he wasn't going to get any better with that part of his powers if he didn't practise, even if he didn't seem too happy about how she had pointed it out.

Will tried not to scowl at Lee's insistence that he should practice with his powers. It wasn't anything he hadn't thought to himself a hundred times, but he was good at ignoring himself. Hearing someone else tell him however, especially when they were speaking from experience made it that much harder to try and brush aside.

A dozen difference excuses tried to rear their head in his mind and the man almost listened to them. Almost.

Instead, words from Lee earlier in their meeting rang louder in Will's mind. 

"Sometimes doing nothing is the only thing you can do... And then there are other times when you do have a choice."

Will took a breath in and let it out in a frustrated huff, largely directed at himself. How dare she keep being right about these things? 

"Makes sense." Will said with all the enthusiasm of a child who was told that eating your vegetables would help them grow up big and strong. The man dragged a hand across and over his forehead, swiping the sweat damp hair back and off his skin, wiping his hand off on the leg of his pants. "Guess it might be useful to someone, even if it doesn't fix my own problems right away."

Tch. Who was he to be complaining about his situation? Will rubbed the back of his neck, feeling sheepish almost as soon as the words had left his mouth. "Ah, sorry." Will apologized again, though this one seemed more sincere than a cultural conversational tic. "Like ya said, old habits and all that..." 

"I'm not," Will started, trying to explain to Lee his reasoning for some of his insistence on clinging to his secrecy. "I'm not worried about today, you know?" Will insisted, feeling fairly sure Lee wouldn't need any metaphors spelled out. Heck, she was probably dumbing things down for him. "But once something's out there... It's out, y'know? Can't be unsaid."

Even though Will was a grown adult, Lee could see aspects of the expression she was becoming used to seeing on her son's face; the look that Kevin got when he knew what Lee was saying made sense, but he didn't want to admit that she was right because that meant he was wrong and he didn't know as much as he thought he did.

At least with the extra decade, Lee guessed, Will had the wisdom and ability to actually admit it out loud, something that Kevin almost never did yet.

"I can guarantee there are people who would find it useful," Lee said gently. "I know at least a few people who would likely find something like what you can do useful and be appreciative of it. But, while I think practising with your abilities would be good for you to do, you don't need to do it with anyone, or at any time, that you don't want to." She was the last one who would push people to work with the X-Men. While there were times and situations where it was necessary, and even she had worked with them, had even asked for their particular kind of help at times, even after two decades, Lee still did not agree with the way the X-Men functioned on a day to day basis.

"Don't worry, Will, I understand about the paranoia and conditioning about your powers sticking around long after they need to," Lee replied. "I was only stuck in the Registration Camp for a month, but I still flinched away anytime someone touched me for 6 months after getting out. Longer if I hadn't expected to be touched. And there are things I hadn't talked about in 15 years with anyone because like you said 'once it's out there'...But sometimes even that can be a good thing."

Will nodded in understanding as he tried to part Lee's gentle words of advice. He should practice, it would be good for him. There'd no doubt be people that would find what he could do useful, or appreciate him. But... Will also noticed Lee was careful not to tell him to do anything. And that Lee seemed insistent on making sure he understood that he didn't have to work with anyone he didn't want to, or use his abilities at times he didn't want to.

The man wondered briefly if there was a story there, or Lee's considerations stemmed more from her being a parent. He certain was getting talked to like a wayward teenager, in spite of his age... not that he didn't deserve it, or need that sort of handling -- at least in regards to this part of his like.

However, Will didn't have much time to consider which it may have been (if it wasn't both), as Lee continued speaking, attempting to have him understand that she fully empathized with his reluctance to open up.

Ah. And there it was. Confirmation that Lee had been here in 2007. That'd she'd been through the Mutant Registration fiasco. And in the absolute worst of ways.

Only stuck in the camps for a month. What a way to downplay the experience. There were enough horror stories out there, embellished or not, that painted a grisly picture about what being in there entailed. Even for only a month. 

And yet Lee spoke about the without hesitation, telling Will that she understood, that she had her own issues she had to get through -- and that she did get through them. Even telling the man that there were things she still kept close to her chest for fear of them getting out... but that sometimes certain things being 'out there' was ultimately better.

... Well damn... It was pretty tough to keep whining about your issues when the person you were talking to dropped something like that. It felt a little like complaining about your papercut to someone missing a limb. Sure -- Will understood it wasn't about who went through what. Trauma didn't work like that, trying to compete over who was hurt worse didn't help anyone -- but here... it did help put things into sharper perspective.

Lee had gone through hell. Then picked herself up and decided to live a full life anyway. Even took the time to talk to stubborn gits like him to help out.

"I..." Will stood, mouth hanging open for a moment as he struggled to find the right words, before just shaking his head, the tension he hadn't realized he'd been holding dropping from his shoulder. The man gave Lee a bemused smirk as he found his voice again. "You really are a mom, aren't you? Feel like I'm getting a lecture about doing my homework."